Rotary engine.



No. 649,544. Patontlacl Mayl5, |900.

i J. W. FLOWERS, M. FOY 8c F. T. WILLIAMS.

Y noTABY ENGINE.

(Application led Aug. 2, 1899.)

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@yi/@M Homey., Emz/ZM- mms No. 649,54I. Patented May I5, IOOO. J. W.FLOWERS, M. FOY O. F. T. WILLIAMS. ROTARY ENGINE.

(Application led Aug. 2,1899.)

7`-NiT'nD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TULIUS VILLIAM FLOVERS, OF NEVPORT, OREGON, AND MICHAEL FOY" AND FRl\.NK T. VILLIAMS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 649,541, dated May 15,1900.

Application filed August 2, 1899. Serial No. 725,902. (No model.)

To all whom t yimg] oon/cern:

Be it known that we, JULIUS WILLIAM FLOWERS, residing at Newport, countyof Lincoln, and State of Oregon, and MICHAEL For and FRANK T. WILLIAMS,residing at Vorcester, in the county of Vorcester and State ofMassachusetts, all citizens of the United States, have invented a newand useful Rotary Engine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rotary engines of that class in which a drumis rotatably mount-v ed in the frame and has pockets for the receptionof steam or other gas under pressure and in which slide valves to cutoff the steam after each pocket is illed.

The object of the invention is to provide a cheap and simpleconstruction adapted for rotation in opposite directions and in which asimple form of throttle may be employed for opening and closing thefeed-pipe and also for reversing the direction of rotation of the drumor piston.. l

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the severalviews, Figure 1 is a section on line 1 lof Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a sectionon line 2 2 of Fig. 1, said section vbeing taken through one of themovable abutments. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, 5 represents the casing of the engine,having a cylindrical transverse opening 6 therein and provided with legs7, through the medium of which it is adapted to be secured to a suitablesupporting-base. The casing 5 is substantially triangular in form, andleading into the 11pper end thereof is a steam-inlet 8, enteringatransverse frusto-conical opening 9, from opposite sides of which leadsteam-passages 10 and 11, which extend downwardly and enter thecylindrical opening 6 at opposite sides of the vertical diameter of theopening. Leading from the opening 6 is an exhaust-passage 12 equidistantfrom the sides of the casing, and into this exhaust-passage leads atransverse arc-shaped slot- 13 for a purpose which will be presentlyexplained.

The exhaust-passage 12 leads through the base of the cylindrical opening6 and into an enlarged chamber 14, having an outlet 15 through the baseupon which the machine is mounted, said chamber 14 and outlet 15 beingformed in a downwardly-projecting lug 16 upon the under side of thecasing and forming an additional support therefor.

Mounted in the cylindrical opening 6 is a rotary piston or drum 17,comprising a web 18, the diameter of which is equal to the diameter ofthe opening 6 and on each side of which web are disposedoppositely-extending fingers 19 and 20, carried by a hub 21, saidfingers having their outer and innersurfaces bounded by arcs ofcircles,- as shown, result-A ing in the formation of two series ofpockets 2l and 22, leading from the hub 2l outwardly and peripherally ofthe ange 18, the outer ends of said pockets being much larger than theinner ends thereof.

The hub 21 is fixed to a shaft 23, which is j ournaled in suitablebearings 211 in coveringplates 25 and 26, which are bolted upon theopposite faces of the frame 5 and which form the side walls of theopening 6. Suitable packing is arranged between the plates 25 and 26 andthe adjacent portion of the frame, and in substitution of packingbetween the hub and said plates there are formed upon the inner faces ofsaid plates and concentric with the shaft 23 annular grooves 27v and 28,in which are seated similar flanges 29 and 30 upon said hub.

The passages l0 and 11 are so arranged with respect to the casing thatthe passage 10 communicates with the opening 6 on that side of the web18 at which is located the series of pockets 21, whereby steam may besupplied to said pockets through said passage, the passage 11 enteringthe opening 6 at the opposite side of the web, the pockets being sodisposed that the fingers separating them will extend in the directionsof their respective passages 10 and 11 as they move adjacent thereto, sothat the discharge of steam from the passages will enter the pockets andpass directlyr against the rear ends thereof, which ends are flat andare disposed to lie at angles to the passages when in a position toreceive steam from the latter. Thus if steam be admitted through thepassage 10 it will enter the pocket of the series 21, into which saidpassage at that time IOO opens, and engaging the end wall or bottom ofthe passage the impact of said steam will rotate the piston in thedirection shown by the arrow in Fig. 2. Conversely, if steam be admittedthrough passage 11 it will enter the pockets of the series 22successively and will rotate the piston in an opposite direction, itbeing of course understood that said passages are alternately opened andclosed.

In order to close the passages 10 and 11 intermittently during theoperation of either to cut oif the supply of steam therethrough andenable the utilization of the steam With'a consequent economy, thereisprovided a movable valve for each of said passages, said valves 35 and36 being adapted to move in corresponding passages 37, formedtransversely of the passages 10 and 11 and of such width that saidvalves when moved forwardly thereof will effectively close theirrespective passages 10 and 11. These valves have an alternatereciprocatory motion which is communicated thereto through the medium ofcrankshafts 38, mounted in suitable brackets 39, connected with theeasing 5, and upon the cranks 39d of which are mounted pitmen 40,connected with cross-heads 4l, moving in guideways 42. These cross-heads41 are connected with reciprocatory rods 43, connected directly with thevalves 35 and 3G, respectively, said rods 43 passing throughstuffingboxes carried by plates 44, which cover the ends of theguide-passages 37. Motion is communicated to the shafts 38 through themedium of sprockets 45 and 46, mounted upon the shafts 38 and 23,respectively, and connected through the medium of chains 4G, of commonform.

In order to supply or regulate the supply of steam through passages 10and 11 from the inlet-pipe S, a frusto-conical plug-valve 47 is fittedin the opening 9 and has formed therein transverse curvilinear passages50 and 51, of which the passage 50 is adapted to simultaneously registerwith pipe 8 and passage 10 to form a path from the former to the latter,the passage 50 registering completely with the'inner end of said pipe,so that it may receive the entire amount of steam passing from the pipe.The plug 47 fits the opening. 9 snugly, so that there is no leakage, andhence by gradually rotating the plug to move the registering end of thepassage 50 from the inlet-pipe 8 the supply of steam to the passage maybe gradually cut off.

The inlet end of passage 51 is separated from the corresponding end ofpassage 50 by an extent of surface greater than the diameter of theinlet 8, so that as the passage is moved from registration with theinlet the supply of steam to the passage 50 will be completely cut offbefore the passage 51 commu-- nicates initially with the inlet. A lever52,

fixed to the plug 47, has a notched segment 53 for holding it at dierentpoints in its movement and through the medium of which lever and segmentthe plug-valve may be adjusted to throw either passage 10 and 11 into,com-A munication with the inlet 8 or to cut off said communicationentirely, thus causing the piston to rotate in either directionor to liedormant. Y

The valves 35 and 3G are so positioned and arranged that they will beoperated to close their respective passages 10 and 11 directly afterfull communication of said passages with their respective pockets hasbeen made. Thus when the passage 10 is opened to receive steam the valvewill be iirst withdrawn as a pocket comes into alinement with thepassage, and as soon as the pressure within the pocket is nearly thesame as in the passage, which is while the passage is in opencommunication with the pocket, the valve will move to close the passage.

The pockets are successively exhausted at their sides and adjacent theirinner ends through exhaust-slots 60, formed in the plates 25 and 26radially of the opening 6 and reaching from the flanges 29 and 30downwardly to the bottom of the chamber 14, the width of which latter isequal to the length of the openingy 6. Thus as the inner ends of thepockets successively reach the slots 60 they will exhaust through them,while the centrifugal force will throw the water. of condensationoutwardly along the outer face of each pocket, from the edge of which itwill pass into the chamber 14 through the opening 12, the water beingdrained to said opening through the slot 13.

Thus it will be seen that there has been formed a simple and effectivemachine capable of starting and stopping and of being driven in oppositedirections, the entire regulation of the machine being through themedium of a single valve, while the elements of the structure are soformed and positioned that there will be a minimum of wear and frictionin the machine. Also it will be seen that there is embodied in a singleapparatus a mechanism Which is operated both by impact and expansionwith a corresponding efficiency, and it will be readily understood thatthe specific construction and arrangement herein shown and described maybe varied and that any suitable materials may be employed for thedifferent parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

While this invention has been described as being operated by steam, itwill of course be IIS IZO

understood that a motive agent of any other V successively communicatewith said steampassages, the communicating end of each passage beingless in diameter than the' commuhicating openings of the pockets,whereby communication between each passage and its respective pocketswill be continuous through a portion of the rotation of the movablepiston, valves adapted to move transversely of and, close thesteam-passages before the communication thereof with their respectivepockets has been diminished, rods connected to the valves, cranksconnected with the rods, and connections between the cranks and thepiston for rotating the cranks.

2. In a rotary engine, the combination with a casing, of a rotatablepiston mounted therein and having a radial web and oppositelydisposedpockets at the sides of said web, steam-supply passages leading to thepockets at opposite sides of the web, means for sup= plying steamalternately to said passages, valves movable transversely of saidpassages and adapted to close them during their communication with theirrespective pockets, rods connected to the valves,cranks connected withthe rods, and connections between the cranks and the piston for rotatingthe cranks.

5. In a rotary engine, the combination with a casing having a rotatablepiston, said casing having steam-inlets adapted to supply steam to thepiston, slidevalves movable transversely of the steam-inlet and adaptedto close them intermittently,- brackets upon the casing, crankshaftsmounted in the brackets,

pitmen connecting the cranks of the crankshafts with the slide-valves,sprockets carried by the shafts, a sprocket rotatable with the piston,and chains connecting the sprockets to move the valves from the piston'.

4. In a rotary engine, the combination with a casing having steam-inletpassages therein, of a rotatable piston mounted in the casing and havingtwo series of pockets oppositely disposed and opening outwardly thereof,the openings of the pockets being adapted to successively communicatewith their respective steam-inlet passages, the series of pockets beingseparated by a radial partition, brackets upon the casing, bearingscarried by the brackets, crank=shafts mounted in the bearings, pitmenconnecting the cranks of the crank-shafts with the slide-valves,sprockets carried by the crank-shafts and piston, and chains connectingthe sprockets.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own We have heretoaffixed our signatures in the presence of witnesses.

JULIUS WILLIAM FLOWERS. MICHAEL FOY. FRANK T. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses to signature of J. W. Flowersi GEORGE MATTHEWS, R. A. BESELL.Witnesses to signatures ot' M. Foy and F. T. Williamsf RUFU's B. FOWLER,H. M. FovvLER.

